I work at a hospital and today a patient came in and said there were bees in the parking lot. Since the people in my office know I am a beekeeper they came and got me. Well this is the scenario.

The bees are in a metal column that hold up their solar panels. The column is about 12 feet high and the bees are going in and out at the very top. I took some photos, but can't post them until I get home (I am still at work right now).

The maintenance man at the facility is understanding on the importance of the bees and doesn't want to kill them, so he is giving me a chance to get them out.

They cannot be cut out (metal column). I am sure they must have recently arrived or else someone else would have complained.

The problem with doing a trap out is:

I cannot set up scaffolding in this patient care area. Someone could kick it over. If too many patients start to complain they will have to kill them asap. Since this is a hospital, there are always liability issues.

So I had the thought to perhaps try and smoke them out since I believe they are a new arrival. What do you all think about this?? I remember a post here about a beek who did just that?? Would it work?? Can you tell me how I would do this, if you think this would work. What time of day to do this? How to seal up the entrance if I see a mass exodus?

That's a tough one :-\! JP should know what to do; after all, he is the bee-whisperer :)!! You might end up having to sacrifice this colony to fate. Good luck with it! Whatever happens, I'm sure the BeeGod will still smile upon you and your parasol!

That's a tough one :-\! JP should know what to do; after all, he is the bee-whisperer :)!! You might end up having to sacrifice this colony to fate. Good luck with it! Whatever happens, I'm sure the BeeGod will still smile upon you and your parasol!

Bee quick or bee go applied liberally should run them out if they don't have brood yet. Smoke probably won't work for a number of reasons.

Getting it below them in sufficient quantity for a long period. Fire on the hospital grounds. Electrical wires possibly in the post.Smoke in an area the patients can smell it.Just to name a few.

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Annette, Im still learning about beekeeping as this is my first year. I have how ever installed many of these metal poles. Seeing the way bees act when bee go is used I would check the base of the pull for a hand hole (a cover with a couple of bolts at the base of the pole). If it has one you could always apply a large amout so a rag or paper towel and stick in the hand hole. That would force the bees up and out the the pole. After that I'm not sure what you could do but It would be better then other ways the problem might have to be delt with. Good luck and keep us posted.

that removal i did the other day was from a colony that had only been in that space for 1 week. granted, it must have been a big swarm. i was estimating around 5 pounds or so.

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.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

I would use Bee quick the smell of bee go in an area the patients can smell it.

BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)

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Apply a liberal amount of bee quick underneath to run them out. You may need to use a shop vac with the hose in the exhaust port and blow the bee quick (on a rag over the hose) up from the bottom.

You will need to have a catch box ready with open brood cells and eggs/very young larvae so the bees can flock to the set up.

I have never successfully "smoked" bees out of any void space and had the queen leave.

Do all this in one shot, secure the premises, do the deal, be very aggressive in your approach as you want them boiling out and going to the catch box.

Now here lies the rub.

After you have run a good many out, you will need to seal the column.

This is not an easy or fun job, it could go better than you think but perhaps worse than you think, especially if there is brood inside the column. Bees tend to not leave their own brood without a serious, serious push.

Your best bet is if they have been there less than five days but if not...

I appreciate all the replies, but I am feeling like this is beyond my abilities.

The maintenance guy who is giving me the time to do this, is actually doing so secretly. The hospital would never allow anything like this. I cannot destroy any hospital property using the heat and also it could start a fire you never know.

I think firstly I will get the bee quick tomorrow and try to look around for another entrance where I can either blow it in or spray it in. I did not see any today, but I will look again tomorrow.

.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

I wonder if drumming slowly on the outside of the metal column would help bring them out? Along with the bee quick. Just a thought.

I have been over and over this situation with several beekeepers including JP. I spoke with the maintenance guy at the hospital and the options are so, so limited.

They will not let me set up a catch box They will not let me drill any holes in the metal columnThey will not let me have any time to figure out something else.I cannot do anything that would destroy hospital propertyThe bees are flying all over the place and patients are walking by that walkway all day long.Even though the drumming would disturb them I don't believe they would leave the brood for any period of time. It might even piss them off if they have to run out because of it. But I believe they would go right back in. The bee quick from what I am reading is only good if you get up behind them or beneath them, but still have to have a catch box when they run out. (from JP)

I am done with this hive. They plan on exterminating them.

But something very funny happened today. The hospital called Orkin Pest Control to remove the bees and somehow Orkin gave them my phone number. I don't know how Orkin got my phone number "They asked me if this was "El Dorado Swarm" Maybe they got my number off the beemaster bee removal map.

annette, i am getting calls from pest control people also. i have no idea where they got my name. probably the same place as the PD. the pest control folks don't want to kill the bees even for money.

sometimes extermination is the only option. it sucks but there it is.

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.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

would it be reasonable to use a bee vac (even though you most likely won't get the queen) and maybe put the bees into a new hive before the stragglers are exterminated?(also, I heard that Bobby McFerrin had killed himself: SNOPES says that's a nasty rumor - McFerrin is alive and kicking)